Topline
As the Paris Summer Olympics get underway, some of the nearly 600 athletes on Team USA have begun competing including two children of billionaires, while the son-in-law of billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates will be competing for Egypt.
Jessica Pegula, the daughter of billionaire Terry Pegula, is competing for Team USA in women’s … [+]
Key Facts
Jessica Pegula, the daughter of Buffalo Bills and Buffalo Sabres owner, and oil magnate Terry Pegula ($6.8 billion, according to Forbes), will compete Tuesday afternoon in women’s doubles tennis, where she has been paired with Coco Gauff, the second-ranked women’s tennis player in the world.
Pegula, the world’s sixth-ranked women’s tennis player, is also slated to compete in women’s singles tennis competition on Monday, squaring off against Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the second round of play.
Emma Navarro, the daughter of former Citigroup vice president Ben Navarro ($1.5 billion), will also compete for the U.S. women’s national tennis team, competing against China’s Qinwen Zheng on Wednesday in the third round of the women’s singles tournament.
Nayel Nassar, the son-in-law of Bill Gates ($131.7 billion), will compete in the summer games for Team Egypt’s equestrian team, an event that Nassar’s wife Jennifer Gates Nassar has also performed in, though she did not qualify for the Olympics.
Georgina Bloomberg, the daughter of billionaire former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, ($104.7 billion), Karl Cook, son of Scott Cook ($6.3 billion) and Jessica Springsteen, daughter of musician Bruce Springsteen, ($1.1 billion) did not qualify for Team USA’s equestrian team.
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What To Watch For
LeBron James, meanwhile, is the only billionaire competing in the Olympics, part of a star-studded USA men’s basketball team (James made $128.8 million on and off the court between May 2023 and May 2024, according to Forbes). The men’s team faces South Sudan on Wednesday.
Tangent
Some of the highest-paid athletes competing in the Paris summer games are also some of the biggest names in professional basketball, tennis and golf, led by James, a four-time NBA champion. Behind James are Greek forward Giannis Antetokounmpo ($111 million, according to Forbes) and Team USA’s Steph Curry ($102 million). In Olympic golf, Spanish star Jon Rahm leads the pack making $218 million both on the course and off, ahead of Ireland’s Rory McIlroy ($83 million) and Scottie Scheffler ($61 million) of Team USA.
Big Number
$37,500. That’s how much the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee rewards each Team USA athlete who wins gold. Athletes on Team USA will take home $22,500 for each silver medal, and $15,000 for bronze. In addition to the payout, the U.S. committee also offers U.S. athletes and their dependents a healthcare package, including vision, therapy, mental health service and access to sports medicine clinics.
Surprising Fact
Team USA fielded athletes for the summer games from every U.S. state except for two: North Dakota and Wyoming. Nineteen other states provided five or fewer athletes: Alabama (5), Hawaii (5), Louisiana (5), Arkansas (4), Kansas (4), Kentucky (4), New Hampshire (4), Idaho (3), Oklahoma (3), Vermont (3), Alaska (2), Delaware (2), Mississippi (2), Montana (2), New Mexico (2), Rhode Island (2), South Dakota (2), West Virginia (2), Maine (1) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (1). The state with by far the most athletes competing this year is California, with 144, over Florida (47), Texas (45), Pennsylvania (35) and New York (31).
Further Reading
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